The Story of Oleander
by Vrinda81
Summary: The death of Assistant District Attorney Alex Gordon was ruled as a suicide, but his father is convinced that someone drove Alex to take that fatal dose of sleeping pills, and he knows who. It's up to Steve McGarrett and the Five-O team to find that evidence needed to put this suspect away, but getting it proves to be deadly.
1. Chapter 1

**The Story of Oleander**

**Chapter 1**

He was handsome, and he was dead. Steve McGarrett and Jayna Berringer stared down at the body of the young man lying on the mortuary slab. The mortuary assistant gave a somber look, and the pristine, gray-white surroundings only added to the drab, dire feelings the three of them felt. Wavy locks of chestnut hair covered the boy's head, his baby face belying the thirty short years he spent on this earth. The eyes that are now closed forever once looked out at the world through olive pupils, and his impish laughter will never be heard by human ears again. Jayna heard that laughter many times over the years, transfixed at the same time by those jade-colored eyes. Steve remembered the boy's charm and gentility. It made it all the more baffling as to why Alexander Gordon died.

"I want you to find who did this to him," Alexander's father, Felix Gordon, said.

"But he killed himself, Felix," Jayna reminded him gently. "Doc Bergman found them in Alex's system. He overdosed on barbiturates and alcohol. They're doing toxicology tests and the results won't be in a for a few weeks."

Felix shook his head. "He took those pills, but he didn't choose to. Someone made him do it. Someone did something to him … made him so upset that he thought he needed to take those pills to forget … " the distraught father was lost in thought and grief, trying to convey his message, but not finding the words. He wanted Steve and Jayna to listen to him, to believe him. "He couldn't have been upset enough to so that. Someone made him take those pills!"

"What could have happened?" Steve asked. He knew Felix Gordon too long to think that he was speaking irrationally.

"I know who killed him," Felix said. "I need you to help me prove it."

"Let's talk about this at Headquarters," Steve said. He nodded to the attendant, who slid Alex's body back inside the numbered compartment in the morgue wall. They thanked him and walked out.


	2. Chapter 2

The Story of Oleander

Chapter 2

Jayna tried to collect her thoughts on Alexander Gordon as best as she could, without allowing her grief to get the better of her. Alex was three years older than she, and six months younger than Danno. In fact, Alex reminded Jayna of Steve McGarrett's second-in-command. Like Danno, Alex was intelligent, loyal, dedicated, and trustworthy, but knew when to let his emotions out. He was as devoted to his role as John Manicote's assistant district attorney as Danno was to being Steve's assistant. She could only imagine how Alex's death affected Manicote. Steve was shaken up, though he tried his best not to show it. The voices emanating from inside Steve's office were loud enough so everyone could hear just what both men thought. …

"There's no way he'd want to kill himself, Steve, no way on this earth!" Manicote protested. "I knew him very well. He was like a son to me." Manicote, trying not to let tears show, walked to the bookshelf that was situated near the door, with the painting of _The Great Tea Race of 1866_ hanging over it. He sighed in frustration, rubbing his forehead. Staring at the painting, John could almost hear the waves crashing, violently, rocking the _Taeping_ furiously. He could understand the waves' rage. Turning bck to Steve's he said, "But the autopsy says clearly that Alex ingested Phenobarbital and alcohol, and the quantities of both were so great that it killed him. There was no evidence of foul play at all. I don't want to believe the evidence, but there isn't any conceivable way to get around it." He slammed the back of his hand onto his other palm.

Throughout the entire time his friend spoke, Steve maintained a calm, collected façade, though inside he burned with the desire to speak out as emotionally as Manicote did. It wouldn't help for both of them to be fired up.

"John, Felix Gordon knows full-well that his son died as a result of overdosing on barbiturates and liquor, but he is certain that someone made his son take those lethal dosages," he pointed out.

"Are you telling me that Felix Gordon suspects that his son was drugged unconscious, and then someone shoved all those pills down his throat, then washed them down with half a bottle of Kentucky Bourbon?" Manicote asked, exasperated. He was not really angry at Steve, but angry at the the whole turn of events. The Alex Gordon he knew was not the Alex Gordon who killed himself, yet there was no explanation at which they could arrive to tell them what ended the young man's life - other than suicide, which John did not want to accept, but the facts said otherwise.

"Exactly!" Steve said, "and Danno and I are going to meet with Doc Bergman this afternoon to find out. I was reading over Det. Nishimura's report. He wrote that there were glasses with liquor residue in them. One of the glasses also had lipstick on the rim – meaning Alex had a lady friend over. Che tested them and found that both bad contained bourbon – the kind that was in that empty bottle of Kentucky bourbon that was found in his kitchen. The residue on the glasses matched the remaining bourbon in the bottle."

"And no one in that building saw a woman whom they did not recognize as living there going in or coming out, and one of Alex's neighbors says she saw him enter the building from the parking lot sometime after seven-fifteen, alone, so when did this woman arrive, when did she leave, and how is it not even one person saw her?"

"That is what we're going to find out," Steve promised.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Story of Oleander**

**Chapter 3**

Danny Williams took the papers out of the file on Alexander Gordon. Remembering Steve's words that in order to know why Alex died, they had to know how he lived, Danny reread the contents and analyzed the information carefully. It read like an ordinary biography, with a tragic ending. Danny tried to shut out Alex's death from his mind as he read the information that pertained to his life.

Alexander Joseph Gordon was thirty years old, single, never been married or engaged. He lived for the past three years in the Ala Wai King Apartments at 2003 Ala Wai Boulevard in Honolulu. He got his bachelor's degree in justice administration from the University of Hawaii at West Oahu in 1960 and his law degree from UH - Manoa's School of Law in 1963. He served a judicial clerkship under Judge Stone at Oahu County Courthouse, and was then hired as John Manicote's assistant DA in 1965. His work record was spotless, as Manicote attested. Alex's academic records from elementary school through law school ranged from average to above-average. Hi social life was normal and expected for someone his age. He had close friends stemming back from childhood, as well as friends from college, law school, and work.

There was no steady girlfriend, but Det. Nishimura noted a datebook with the names of several young women Alex had taken out a few times, just for casual dates, but nothing serious. Nishimura and HPD interviewed all the women, and were still checking into their backgrounds. Nishimura highlighted three names – Sharon Bartlett, Keilana Okole, and Margarethe Krieger. Sharon was a woman Alex had dated at least three times in the month prior to his death. They met at work. She was a court stenographer. Keilana Okole was a student at Honolulu Community College. She was nineteen years old, a bit young for Alex, Danno thought, but maybe they were just friends. Margarethe Krieger was a bank teller at the American Savings Bank in Bishop Street. That was where Alex had accounts, so it was not unnatural for him to get friendly with any young, pretty bank tellers.

In Nishimura's notes, he gave his reasons for centering on these girls. Sharon Bartlett had lunch with Alex the day he died. They met at a coffee shop at noon and left a few minutes before one, according to the waitress who waited on them. Sharon was upset over Alex's death, naturally, and said they only started seeing each other recently, and she had no indication that anything was bothering Alex or that he was in any kind of trouble. Keilana Okole was hired by Alex to do typing for him. She needed extra money for her tuition bills and for other expenses. She came in for one hour that evening, to drop off work from the past week and pick up more work to be completed and given back to Alex the next week. She went to his apartment at half past seven, and left when it was nearing eight thirty. She had coffee with Alex, they talked for a while, then she left. Keilana noted that Alex perfectly fine and seemed happy. Alex made a trip to the bank that day to make some deposits, Margarethe Krieger told HPD. She handled the transactions, made some small conversation with Alex, and he left. What ties these women together, other than knowing Alex, was that they all saw him on the day he died.

At least speaking to them would give them some start, Danno thought as he wrote their names into his notebook. He looked up to see Jayna tapping her pencil eraser against her fingernail. Those little mannerisms of hers always made her more endearing to him, though Danno knew that Jayna's affections lay with Steve, even though he was married to his job.

"Bored?" he asked her.

"Not with this case," Jayna replied. "We've got enough to keep busy, but sitting around here isn't going to help."

"We need to know what we're going to do before we do it," Danno reminded her. "Alex was an assistant DA, so who knows how many enemies he made in the last three years."

"I've gone through half his cases, and Kono did the others, and either the defendants are still in jail, out on parole, or were acquitted. That means we check every one of them." Jayna held up some of the thick files.

"At least we'll be busy," Danno replied.

Steve's heavy footsteps past interrupted the conversation. Steve stopped and stood by Jayna's desk. He looked flustered, and neither Danno nor Jayna were surprised, nor questioned why.

"I just spoke to the governor," Steve told them. "He wants us to give Alex Gordon's suicide investigation top priority."

"You don't think it was murder," Jayna asked.

"I do, but I can't officially call it that unless we know for sure," Steve answered. "That the governor is personally mandating it says that something is up."

"Does Jameson know something we don't?" Danno asked.

"Only what we already know," Steve replied. "Even if Alex really did kill himself, the suicide of an officer of the court will get tongues wagging. People will make all sorts of assumptions, rumors will spread, and who knows what we'll have to answer for then." He put his hand on the back of Jayna's chair, leaning against it, as though all his strength had been drained from him.

"Doc's checking over the autopsy results now, and Che's doing the same with the forensic evidence," he went on. "They're telling me something's not right …"


	4. Chapter 4

**The Story of Oleander **

**Chapter 4 **

Doctor Max Bergman set down the autopsy report, flabbergasted. He roughly ran his fingers through his wavy gray hair. Steve and Danno sat quietly in anticipation of Doc's findings, waiting to know if Alex's death was suicide or not. From what Doc had to tell Steve and Danno, his frustration was understandable.

"He clearly overdosed, Steve," the medical examiner said, "but there's something else … something that doesn't make sense …"

"Well, spill it, Doc," Steve said. "We're not getting any younger. Don't keep us in suspense." Steve did little to hide his impatience.

"Along with the Phenobarbital and bourbon, there were oleander leaves, and nectar," Doc replied.

Steve and Danno looked at each other, equally confused. Oleander was deadly enough on its own, so there would be no need for someone wanting to kill themselves to take barbiturates and alcohol as well.

"Why bother taking sleeping pills and bourbon if you're going to take oleander first? You'd be feeling the effects of oleander instantly, and not even be able to open the bottle of sleeping pills and ingest them," Steve remarked.

"I wish I had an answer," Doc said, taking off his visor. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"Where did he even get the oleander from?" Danno asked. "There were no such plants in his apartment or outside."

"But they grow all over Hawaii," Steve said, "and Alex – or someone else – could have picked them off from a shrub in front of someone's house. It's anyone's guess where!" Steve got up and paced in front of the window, arching back his neck, running his fingers through his thick dark hair, and closing his eyes tightly, trying to picture Alex during his last few hours. "It looked like a suicide from the beginning and now it turns out Alex was poisoned first, and somehow got sleeping pills and bourbon into his system even though the oleander would already have taken effect."

"What does oleander do when someone ingests it?" Danno asked.

"Victims react immediately," Doc answered. "The poison causes swelling, vomiting, bloody diarrhea, then unconsciousness, respiratory paralysis, and death." Doc shook his head. "I agree with Steve on this one. The poison would have taken effect the minute his stomach started digesting it. The reactions would have been too strong for Alex to even think of taking sleeping pills and downing them with a drink. He would have been too overtaken with the poison to think of anything else."

"But there was no vomit on his face, or anywhere around his body," Danno said, "nor any indication anywhere in that apartment – like in the bathroom or on the floor – that he had thrown up."

"My assistant checked the body again, and sure enough, there is evidence of vomiting," Doc confirmed. "This can only mean one thing."

"Alex was poisoned, and someone stayed to clean him up and make it look like he poisoned himself," Steve added. He turned to Doc. "What did Alex eat and what were the contents of his stomach?"

"His stomach was empty," Doc said, "which is line with the vomiting."

"How did the oleander show up in your results?" Steve asked. "Oleander doesn't normally show up in toxicology tests."

"They do if you know to look for them," Doc said, "plus, some leaves were still in his stomach – five of them."

Steve began to pace up and down again, deep in thought. Danno and Doc knew those mannerisms and when Steve displayed then, they knew not to disrupt him. It meant Steve was thinking, and when he was in such a state, he came up with his most plausible theories. Steve stopped walking and looked at his two friends, his steely eyes shining. It was then that Danno knew his boss was onto to something.

"We know Alex was last seen alive at eight-thirty on the night of the twelfth. He left the DA's office at seven fifteen. He got to his apartment around seven-thirty. He went in through the main entrance. Some neighbors saw him and exchanged greetings, and he went into the elevator. Keilana Okole was the last person that we know of to see him alive. She went to his place sometime after seven-thirty, through a back entrance because it was more convenient from where she parked her car, and went to his floor - the seventh. She talked to Alex, had coffee with him around eight-ten, then left around eight-thirty. When he didn't show up for work at eight in the morning, Manicote called Alex, but got no response. He had his secretary try several times. Then she called Alex's landlady and asked her to go to his apartment and check on him. The landlady went up there with a neighbor at nine am, knocked on the door several times, then opened it, and discovered Alex dead. This is from everyone's statements."

Doc and Danno nodded. Steve went on. "He only ate the leaves?"

"No, Che found oleander nectar residue in one of the coffee cups," Doc said. "There was enough oleandrin in them to kill him."

"How much is enough to be lethal?" Steve asked.

Doc thought for a minute, then said, "There is no designated amount of oleandrin that can be considered lethal. If someone wanted to poison someone with it, they could use as much as one leaf, or twenty, or just a few drops of nectar, or an entire cup just to be safe. The entire plant is poisonous – flowers, leaves stems, nectar, and even the buds. If you burn oleander, inhaling the smoke can kill you. "

"Cut to the chase, Doc," Steve urged. "Is there a range?"

"A child was once poisoned by consuming one leaf, and died instantly, whereas some adults ate as many as fourteen to twenty oleander leaves at once, and survived. They showed the symptoms, but were able to get treatment in time to save them. It depends on the age, sex, weight, and overall physical health of the victim, and how fast they receive medical attention. In order for Alex to have eaten those leaves, they had to have been slipped into something he was already eating, something in which they would blend in, like a salad or a sandwich. Manicote said that Alex ate a sandwich at around six in the evening. His secretary ordered some for them. He said the sandwiches had dark-colored lettuce leaves."

"And oleander leaves are brown and could have fit right in," Steve said, "but he couldn't have ingested them then, otherwise he would have shown the symptoms before he left."

"Maybe the leaves were in his coffee cup?" Danno asked.

"But Alex made it, and there wouldn't have been enough time, or opportunity, for someone to slip them in, but the nectar would have been enough to do the trick. Keilana says that Alex made and served the coffee. She didn't, and her fingerprints are nowhere on any of the items used, except the cup she drank out of, the saucer that she used with it, and the spoon she used to stir it," Steve said. "Plus, Keilana says she and Alex were drinking it just before she left. She lost track of the time, finished her coffee, and said she had to go. She didn't notice any strange reactions from Alex. He was fine, they said their good-byes, and that was it."

"Officer Nishimura mentioned going through Alex's refrigerator, and he made a list of everything. Che took samples for testing," Doc said.

"We'll speak to Che when he's got the results," Steve said. "We'd better check Alex's apartment ourselves, and have a talk with Miss Okole - and the Gordons." Danno nodded.

"So the poison had to have taken effect sometime after Keilana left, then where do the sleeping pills and bourbon come in? Since they were in his system, and nothing else Alex ate in the hours leading up seven-thirty were found in his stomach …" Doc thought to himself, then gasped, "… they had to have been taken after the poison took effect, after he showed all symptoms of oleander poisoning …"

"Then someone had to have been there to clean him up, clean up those coffee cups, and make sure he was dead," Danno finished. A look of horror swept over the young officer's face. "Steve … this is barbaric! What we're suggesting is that someone slipped Alex the oleander, watched him wretch and convulse, watched him die, and then went and cleaned him up!"

Steve's face showed no shock. In all his years as a police officer, and even prior to that as a naval commander, he had seen much debauchery, misery, and mayhem, and he thought that by now he would be used to such things and desensitized, but he really was not. No matter how many different methods of committing murder he came across, Steve was still astounded and disgusted.

"Imagine what he must have felt, what he must have thought, and how helpless he was," Steve said, thinking out loud and talking to himself more than to Danno and Doc. "His killer would know … she would have stayed to make sure the poison took effect, and cleaned up Alex so there was no trace of his reaction to the oleander." He went to the chair next to Danno and sat down. "She might even have had help." He looked up at Doc and Danno. "Gentlemen, this is no longer a case of suicide. It's flat-out murder."

Doc nodded. Danno winced, while Steve put his arm around his second-in-command's shoulder.


End file.
